please critique my control panel

[clickhea]

one more question

if i moved the tv back a bit further from the players, the viewing angle would probably be better for the players if the players were a little off to the side right?

[clickhea]

drilled out my button layout into a scrap piece of wood, what do you guys think?





feels really comfortable so far, wont know for sure i guess untill ive been playing on it for a while

any input?

[protokatie]

drilled out my button layout into a scrap piece of wood, what do you guys think?

 

Looks almost exactly the same as my layout! Except I used different colors. Maybe you should install the joy on that scrap as well, and play an hour or so of games to find out. I would like to know before I commit to your (erm I mean my) button layout.

[DaveMMR]

Looks good (though uniform colors or at least an obvious pattern will give it less of that "conversion" look).      And yes, test it out for comfort.  A good half hour.

And don't stress the measurements to the point where you're pushing the monitor back all the way to Canada. It will allow you to put the joysticks more to the side, but then you can't play Robotron with two sticks.   

[clickhea]

ah yeah, the buttons are going to be all blue

i just put in the first buttons i pulled outa the box just to see what it looks like  ;o)

i posted the button layout in the first page, i took it from jave in a post i found  was it yours originally?

[protokatie]

i took it from jave in a post i found  was it yours originally?

If you are refering to me, the design you posted on the first post isnt the one you ended up testing. I was refering to the test you did with scrap wood, as it looks almost exactly like the one I planned out. (And "tested" using a cardboard box) (IE the 7 button thing)

Play some games with your layout, I would like to get feed back since the buttons are arranged almost exactly as the ones I have planned. The cardboard prototype I made seemed to work just fine and I played it for awhile and it was comfortable.

[quarterback]

It's personal preference, but I think your Player1 joystick is too far off to the left.

I guess it will depend on how often you're playing games that only require the use of one joystick, but with my CP I found that I wished I was standing more in front of the monitor instead of off to one side, and your P1 joystick is certainly further to the left than mine is.  I mean, in that cardboard mock up, your P1 joystick is lined up with the left edge of your cabinet.   In the next revision of my CP, I plan on shifting everything to the right instead of centering the trackball in the very middle.

[clickhea]

yeah its pretty much line up with the edge

i was looking at some photos of peoples cabs (knievel, mountains mame) and it seemed like thats where their joysticks were.


i agree it would be nicer to have the joystick closer to the center, but how would you make the control panel look uniform when everything is shifted over to the right?  also how are u dealing with the player 2 joystick? are u going to have that way off to the right?

btw katie, this is the design iam talking about (which i got off javes post)

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9782/controlsyy3.jpg

i just added a 7th button after a few minor measurements :oP   will let u know how it works out for me

[protokatie]

i just added a 7th button after a few minor measurements :oP   will let u know how it works out for me

Yeah, i was refering to the pic of your 7 button prototype. And thanx, I wont be getting any MDF for a few weeks to start out on my own, so it would be nice to get info on how it works out, seeing as how close in design your 7 and my 7 button layouts are.

[clickhea]

the only thing thats stopping me from starting my control panel is iam not sure where i want the joysticks

if i put them near the edge its great for the trackball but the players are a bit off to the side of the screen

if i put them closer its better for the players but the trackball is very close to the plyer 2 joystick

its been bothering the heck outa me

[quarterback]

yeah its pretty much line up with the edge

i was looking at some photos of peoples cabs (knievel, mountains mame) and it seemed like thats where their joysticks were.

For whatever reason your cardboard mockup just makes it look really far to the left.  And since mine bugs me, it's just something that I notice.   All my controls are pretty crammed together underneath and it looks like you've got some room to spare if you wanted to bunch yours closer to the center.

Below is the layout of my CP.  I'll dig up the measurements when I can, but I've got everything crammed pretty much as tightly in as I could and I just find myself wishing I was standing more directly in front of my machine.  If I were to do it again (or WHEN I do it again) I'll probably lose or move the P2 buttons so I can shift everything over just a bit.   I never have a 2nd player anyway so the 2nd joystick is really just used for CrazyClimber, BattleZone, Robotron and the like.

EDIT TO ADD FOR REFERENCE:  The 1 horizontal and 2 rectangular "bars" in the picture represent the interior of my cab.   From right to left, there are 23-inches of available space between the two sides in which to fit my controls.  Also, the trackball is a 2-1/4"